1:0 Ferenc Puskas (6.) 2:0 Zoltan Czibor (8.) 2:1 Max Morlock (10.) 2:2 Helmut Rahn (18.) 2:3 Helmut Rahn (84.) The 1954 World Cup Final was the final match of the fifth FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, Switzerland, on 4 July 1954. The game saw the underdogs West Germany beat the largely favoured Hungary 32. In Germany, it is referred to as "Das Wunder von Bern" ("The Miracle of Berne"). The game was the subject of a 2003 German film of the same name. The Wankdorf Stadion in Berne was packed with a crowd of 64,000 people, eagerly anticipating the encounter between the two teams. The match was played in heavy rain, weather conditions the German side had christened "Fritz Walter-weather", as the German team captain Fritz Walter was known for playing his best football under those conditions. When it had rained a few days before the final, German coach Sepp Herberger had sent his players out to practice during heavy rain, as if foreseeing the weather conditions. In addition, the Germans were equipped with footwear supplied by adidas, which had produced a hitherto unheard of design of boot with exchangeable, screw-in studs that could be adapted to any weather. This enabled the German players to wear their regular boots despite the adverse weather. Although he was not fully fit in time, Ferenc Puskás was back in the Hungarian lineup for the final match, and he put his team ahead after only six minutes. When Zoltán Czibor added the second goal for Hungary a mere two minutes later, the pre-tournament favourites seemed destined to ease to victory over Germany, just as they had in the group, and take the trophy. However, Germany did not give up and equalised quickly, with goals from Max Morlock (10') and Helmut Rahn (18'). Having leveled the scores, the Germans now looked a match for the Hungarians and managed to reach half time at 22, both teams having missed several promising chances to take the lead. In the second half, the Hungarians poured forward looking to retake the lead, but their attempts were repeatedly foiled by the German defence with goalkeeper Toni Turek pulling off several fine saves. With six minutes left and the Germans still holding out at 22, German striker Helmut Rahn, nicknamed "The Boss" reached the ball on a speculative German attack 20 yards in front of the Hungarian goal. Deceiving the Hungarian defender by shooting with his weaker left foot, he scored West Germany's third goal with an accurate drive to the bottom left of the goal, leaving Hungarian goalkeeper Grosics no chance. Two minutes before the end, Puskás equalised once more, but his goal was ruled off-side by the Welsh linesman Benjamin Griffiths. The match and Hungarys unbeaten run ended in one of the biggest upsets in the history of football. http://www.wikipedia.org/

• published: 28 Oct 2007
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